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Previous cohorts of the NEPDP earned the Certificate of General Military Studies (CGMS), consisting of mandatory junior (100-200 level) courses in the common core curriculum, and elective courses at any level appropriate to the individual student. The shift to the Certificate of Advanced Military Studies (CAMS) means that all the courses you will take are senior courses (300-400 level). Junior courses tend to be lecture/demonstration and reading for absorption of content, with tests and exams making up most of the evaluation. Senior courses require more self-directed reading, processing and discussion. In senior courses, more of the evaluation is through seminars, presentations, and essays.
Mandatory prerequisites acknowledge that learning is cumulative, and you need to understand some things before you learn others. The thinking behind the shift to the Advanced Certificate is that your leadership courses and life experiences have already exposed you to the necessary prerequisite material. We don’t really know if this is true. The four subjects below are prerequisites for most of the 300 and 400 level courses that you would normally take in psychology, history, and political science. These threshold knowledge tests are intended to help you to identify gaps in your knowledge base within specific subjects.
In addition to subject matter knowledge, you will need specific academic skills to succeed in senior courses, and the remainder of the bridging program should help you with these.
For each of the following subjects, look at the course description, the course syllabus, and key learning objectives. Look back over your personal stock of knowledge and experience, and then try the threshold knowledge test on SurveyMonkey. If you want to do it a second time after you have identified and filled some gaps, that’s ok, but not necessary. It is just a tool to develop a plan to ensure that you are ready for senior courses that assume prior knowledge of the material.
To be clear, the courses below are not courses you are required to take; you don’t have room for them in your program. But they are prerequisites that you are deemed to have met by virtue of the normal progression that brings you to the current version of NEPDP, Certificate of Advanced Military Studies.
Course description: “This course is designed to provide the student with an understanding of people as psychological beings. The essentials of the scientific method and its application to psychology will be presented. Concepts such as development, learning, memory, motivation, intelligence, stress and health, personality, and psychological disorders will be discussed.”
Course syllabus This is from 2014 so there might have been some changes, but I think key learning objectives are comparable.
Key learning objectives:
Comment: where you might have encountered this
Why it is important:
Link to threshold knowledge test 90
Course description: “A study of the military history of Canada and New France to the present day. The focus will be on wars in which Canada has participated and their impacts on the country’s evolution. Topics covered include the role of the Canadian Armed Forces during the First and Second World Wars, in NATO, and in peacekeeping operations.”
Course syllabus:
Key learning objectives: (This is my guess - I’m waiting for the official answer)
Comment: You have probably encountered many aspects of Canadian military history from general interest and through socialization (inculcation of values, attitudes and beliefs) during your time in units and in leadership courses, but it might not fit into a coherent overall framework. You might not have a clear idea of how historical knowledge is generated or validated, and of the main controversies and debates about history in general and Canadian and military history in particular, but these are likely to influence the readings and discussions in senior history courses, many of which will be on contemporary subjects.
Why it is important: You will want to take some 300 and 400 level history courses. In general, they will build on the basic body of knowledge and the reading and research tools
Link to threshold knowledge test
Course description: “This introduction addresses political culture and socialization, federalism and the regions, parties and the electoral system, federal institutions, organization and accountability of the public service and armed forces, equity and diversity, role of the media, and Canada's place in the world.”
Course syllabus. These are from last year, and shouldn’t change much. Professor Chouinard (professor in charge), Professor Last (teaching two sections).
Key learning: “This course introduces students to the fundamental features of democracy in Canada using the analytical tools of political science. After reviewing the sociological features of Canadian democracy, we will survey its main institutions, including the electoral system, Parliament, federalism and the Charter. Finally, we will discuss some of the key challenges facing Canadian democracy today, including the inclusion and recognition of minorities and the impact of globalization. At the end of the semester, students should be able to identify and analyze critically the main features and political dynamics of democracy in Canada.”
Comment: You will have encountered this material before in high school civics classes and probably in lectures or discussions in your Osside Centre leadership courses. My POE205 courses are online if you want a quick refresher on any of these.
Why it is important: Both history and politics course rely heavily on an understanding of the basic functions and characteristics of government and the state, whether they are focused within the state or on relations between states or in the international community.
Link to exam preparation for POE205 - this is a pool of possible exam questions to give you an idea of the content that is typically included in POE205.
Link to threshold knowledge test
Course description: “This course introduces students to the field of international relations (IR). Students will be able to describe the relationships among actors, levels of analysis and events. It introduces theoretical approaches to international relations and the utility of these approaches for describing and analyzing historical and contemporary international events. Learning Outcomes are to recognize the study of international relations within political science; recognize the relationship between events and concepts; describe the key concepts in International Relations and outline the connection between events and IR theory. (RMC Undergraduate Calendar, 2019-2020)”
Course syllabus (from Professor Last’s fall 2019 section)
Key learning objectives: “This course is part of the mandatory common core at RMC because a professional officer must be able to understand and explain the implications of international events, and to assess critically the explanations of others. Seeking to understand the significance of events and issues in international relations should engage you throughout your career. You won’t learn everything you need in one course. The course should permit you to do several important things as a leader and “manager of violence”:
Comment: You will have encountered many of the concepts of international relations through your professional life and leadership courses, but a significant danger is that you will use these concepts without formal definitions, e.g. “Realism” as concept in IR is not necessarily “realistic” in the common sense of the word. Why it is important: How this fits in with your professional life should be obvious. For senior courses, you will often have to explain divergent perspectives and interpretations of events, and the basic toolbox of theories and concepts from POE116 helps with any course that addresses relations between states or across national boundaries.
Practice questions for final exam, November 2019
Link to threshold knowledge test.
I’ll provide the gap analysis and catch-up plan for the two politics classes and we will look to history and psychology professors to assess your progress in those areas.
In class, you will often encounter things you don’t know. Sometimes you will know that you are missing something, and sometimes you will have a vague sense that people are talking about things that you should know, but you can’t put your finger on what’s missing from your background.
Harder to define are ideas, concepts, and approaches that may be incompletely articulated, but which shape a discussion. For example, a discussion of different perspectives might hinge on the idea of “social construction of ideas” or “cognitive relativism”. The former is an idea common in politics, sociology, and sometimes history, while the latter is more common in philosophy, psychology, and the arts. You can look them up. If you don’t know what to look up then ask people to elaborate. Useful wording for questions includes:
Most important, don’t let confusion slide - fight back early. The first time you go through a class where you really don’t know what’s going on, grab the prof (figuratively) and tell them were you got lost. Make sure that you have notes from the class so you can point to specific parts of a class where
Next: What is this critical thinking thing?
This is a privately hosted personal website. RMC, DND, and Government of Canada are not responsible for its content. Last updated July 2020.
David Last, CD, PhD
Associate Professor, Political Science
Royal Military College of Canada
Call: +1(613)532-3002
